"I haven't given a thought to retiring," declared Boeheim, who is in his 50th consecutive year - as student, player and coach - at Syracuse. "There's nothing to talk about because I haven't given a thought to it. I've never â?¦ ever â?¦ ever â?¦ ever â?¦ said anything about retiring.

"I've said the same thing all year, and all last year: I just want to get through the year. I have no plans to retire. Could I retire? Anything can happen, but I have no thoughts right now.

"If I was thinking about it a little bit, I'd say, 'Well, I'm thinking about it.' But I'm not. That golf line was just a joke. The season's almost over. In a couple of weeks, I'll go play golf. But not permanently. I don't like golf that much."

Boeheim continued to talk about other parts of the job he'd miss if he left the profession, discussing his dealings with reporters, instances that have gained infamy at times this season.

"I'll miss some of these press conferences with some of you people, having a chance to get mad," he said. "Then everyone's mad at me for a couple of weeks. How can he say those things? It's easy. It's real easy. I don't care."

Boeheim laughed, and reporters laughed.

"When we get in these press conferences, you have every right to ask any question you want, and I'll answer it any way I want to," Boeheim said. "It's fair. It's fair, right?"